Kaleidoscopic Kites Free Quilt Pattern

April 22, 2011

I am very excited to share my latest pattern with you, Kaleidoscopic Kites! This pattern is great for everyone, but especially for beginners. Each block has only 4 pieces and if you are familiar with chain piecing, you will make quick work of assembling these blocks.

The final quilt will measure around 63″ x 72″. Let’s get started!

1. Cut fabric. Below are fabric requirements, piece sizes and number of cuts.

Small Color Squares

Fabric Requirements

Size

Cut

Light Yellow

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

6

Light Brown

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

8

Light Pink

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

12

Light Orange

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

14

Light Blue

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

10

Light Green

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

3.5″ x 3.5″

6

Large Color Squares

Fabric Requirements

Size

Cut

Dark Yellow

Fat Quarter or 1/4 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

6

Dark Brown

1/2 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

8

Dark Pink

1/2 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

12

Dark Orange

2/3 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

13

Dark Blue

1/2 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

10

Dark Green

1/2 yard

6.5″ x 6.5″

7

Background

Fabric Requirements

Size

Cut

White

2 yards

3.5″ x 6.5″

112

Finishing Up

Fabric Requirements

Binding

1 yard

Backing

4 yards

2. There are 18 different block layouts. Follow the below diagrams and sew squares together using a 1/4″ seam allowance. This should leave you with a 9.5″ square.

Tip: I find it helpful to make piles for all 18 block types, and then sew them together in sets. Be sure to keep track of your block letters (A thru S) as you will need to know that for the quilt top assembly in Step 3.

Block ADark Green/Light Yellow Assemble 2

Block BDark Yellow/Light YellowAssemble 3

Block CDark Yellow/Light BrownAssemble 2

Block DDark Brown/Light YellowAssemble 1

Block EDark Brown/Light BrownAssemble 4

Block FDark Brown/Light PinkAssemble 3

Block GDark Pink/Light BrownAssemble 2

Block HDark Pink/Light PinkAssemble 6

Block IDark Pink/Light OrangeAssemble 4

Block JDark Orange/Light PinkAssemble 3

Block KDark Orange/Light OrangeAssemble 7

Block LDark Blue/Light OrangeAssemble 3

Block MDark Orange/Light BlueAssemble 3

Block NDark Blue/Light BlueAssemble 5

Block ODark Green/Light BlueAssemble 2

Block PDark Blue/Light GreenAssemble 2

Block QDark Green/Light GreenAssemble 3

Block RDark Yellow/Light GreenAssemble 1

3. Once your blocks are assembled, use the following diagram to lay out your quilt top. Assemble the top.

This is awsoome! Thank you for not making it too rainbow-ish (as in roygbv). Can I be so bold as to offer up a time saving tip on the block making process? It looks to me that you could make a nine patch block with 6.5″ squares and cut it up like a disappearing nine patch to get the same result. I say this because I dislike cutting lots of tiny pieces. Just my two cents. 🙂

Love this! So cheery and sunshiny and fun! Thank you for sharing!!!! I’m seeing Christmas fabrics in this…. oooh, like those fun paperchains they make in Kindergarten and string all around the classroom for the Christmas concert!

Yep! If you are using all the same prints and/or solids you could definitely do disappearing 9-patches to save time. I wanted to have a very scrappy look with no more than 2 of the same print anywhere (preferably no duplicates) so I went with individual blocks.

Faith – I really like this quilt!! Fresh, clean lines, good size and simple piecing. I also followed the link from Quiltstory. Thank you Faith, I look forward to more patterns from you. Now, to continue perusing your blog. Cheers, Dianne

I wanted to thank you so much for this pattern. I’m making now with batiks, and I am just in love with it. Your directions are so clear and the pictures so beautiful; this made my month. 🙂 Thanks again.

This is a beautiful quilt! I have never made a quilt but your directions are very clear and this will be my first attempt. I was wondering what kind of fabric you used? Cotton? Also, I love the white background, what fabric is that called? The “bubbly” looks is great!

Pieced this quilt top today. It went really fast (esp for a beginning quilter). It gave me a chance to really focus on the fabric choices and not worry as much about the pattern. Plus I was able to use some random fabrics in my stash that I just hadn’t found a use for yet. I am super happy with how it came out!

i llooooove this quilt! im a beginner quilter and im just not that clever with this stuff yet!!! Could you tell me how to make this a queen size quilt? its the first quilt my boyfriend and I agree on for our bed haha!!!! *

Hi Sally – Thanks! Well – enlarging a quilt like this isn’t as easy as it sounds. Because there is a pattern, you will need to plan out how much bigger you need for a Queen sized quilt and then add blocks accordingly following the pattern. It will require a bit of math and probably a pencil and paper / planning. Good luck!

Hi! I am new to quilting and I just had a question about this quilt. When everything was put together and you began to do the actual quilting, what did you do? From pictures it looks like you did some form of stipple quilting only on the white areas? What did you do on the color blocks?

I want to thank you for posting this! It will be the quilt that will help to save my life. I am 40 year smoker, after a week on Chantix, today is my quit day. One of the battles for a person who is quitting is the habit of smoking in addition to the addiction. Your quilt design is my choice to help me with my habit. Each time I find myself craving the habit of smoking, I go cut squares, and as I finish each color, the next craving finds me preparing the next color, and so on. I will carry this quilt for years to come, and again, thank you for the design, and the pattern.

Thanks for posting this quilt! I have been looking for inspiration for a quilt I want to make my cousin and his fiance for their wedding; but have yet to stumble upon something I think they will enjoy. But now I think I’ve found it!

I am a newbie quilter. Your pattern is beautiful – I love the color combinations. I believe that making a nine patch (with 6.5 squares, dark colored in the four corners, light color in the center and white everywhere else) and then cutting it in half – both horizontally and vertically will yield the same block (times 4) but will make it much simpler and faster. It is the Disappearing Nine Patch.

I made this quilt (a first quilt for me) and it came out beautifully. I used a dark brown background as we have a chocolate lab and I know he’ll get on it… Anyway, I can’t thank you enough, this little project helped me through a bad time.

Have been urging myself to make this for several years and finally did it! Pattern was easy to follow. It’s also a breeze to assemble. I pinned my creation giving you credit on my Pinterest board. http://pinterest.com/pin/216665432048918354/

Hi Peggy! I’m glad you like the quilt! Expanding a pattern for a larger/different size can be a lot of work. I’d suggest grabbing some graph paper and marking off the size quilt you want. Then start filling in with the blocks and see how many you need/the layout. Good luck!

I look forward to making one of these. Thank you for sharing it with us. Because I am not good at total random scrappy quilts, I tend to like the rainbow quilts because they are a organized random. I was think maybe if there could be a way of doing this the disappearing 9-patch method. My brain is not twisting around it right now, but as I think about it, there may be a way. lol …probably easier for me to just follow the pattern …LOL

Hi Gail! Yes, if you don’t want it scrappy you can absolutely make this using a disappearing nine patch. I don’t have the measurements for that, but I’m sure there are a lot of disappearing nine patch tutorials online to help. 🙂

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